It is pretty awesome. On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Ray Salemi <[email protected]> wrote:
> This gets to my basic argument that the Boston Sports Media are no more > qualified to write about sports than you or me. > > I would *love* a job where I got to spout my pointless drivel and ill > conceived theories and get paid for it. > > Ray > > > > On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Matt & Olga McSorley < > [email protected]> wrote: > > I'm sorry, guys. My thoughts when I sent this were actually more directed > at > > the Boston sports media, many of whom spouted the line that Jason Bay was > a > > poor outfielder because he had such a poor UZR rating, when we all knew > > perfectly damn well not a one of them had the first clue what UZR is. > This > > spouting came a year and a half after the same media folk told us how > > refreshing it was to have a left fielder who could play the position > after > > 7½ years of Manny being Manny. I really don't want to set off THAT > argument > > again... > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: "Beaudoin, John" <[email protected]> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Tue, April 27, 2010 2:11:53 PM > > Subject: RE: UZR boo-boo > > > > John who? > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Salemi > > Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 2:06 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: UZR boo-boo > > > > Models or no models, I was at Fenway, watched Dioner Navarro swing a > > bat, and dropped him from my Roto team the very next day. > > > > On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 1:46 PM, William Marino <[email protected]> > > wrote: > >> For those slavishly tied to models, this should really rock your world. > >> If > >> you go back to the earlier discussion re: defense of Bay (and Ellsbury), > >> there was debate on over reliance on models. This is proof that pure > >> stats > >> are no better than pure scout. All of it is data and the real value > added > >> is in the interpretation of the data by people. > >> > >> > >> > >> ________________________________ > >> > >> From: [email protected] > >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matt & Olga > McSorley > >> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:50 AM > >> To: [email protected] > >> Subject: UZR boo-boo > >> > >> > >> > >> From today's Herald Red Sox blog. This is me feeling vindicated for > >> contending Jason Bay was not the lousy outfielder we were all told he > was > >> in > >> the off-season: > >> > >> > >> > >> -- Matt > >> > >> UZR owes Jason Bay an apology > >> > >> This slipped through the cracks, but the good folks at FanGraphs - who > are > >> constantly tweaking their formulas in an effort to make them as accurate > >> as > >> possible - recently tackled what many within the game considered one of > >> the > >> biggest flaws of UZR, or Ultimate Zone Rating, which was treated as > Gospel > >> this winter during all the discussions of defense around these parts. > >> > >> That flaw was UZR's inability to handle quirky parks like Fenway, where > >> left > >> field and center field are of such strange configurations, they cannot > be > >> judged with a cookie cutter model. > >> > >> It turns out that Mitchel Lichtman, the creator of UZR, agreed, so he > >> augmented his model to better gauge things like left field at Fenway, or > >> right field in Minnesota, or the entire outfield at Coors, as the > >> FanGraphs > >> people explain. > >> > >> The upshot of these changes is that most players were relatively > >> unaffected. > >> However - and this is a big however - one player had his UZR > significantly > >> altered by the fixes, which were retroactively applied to old data: > Jason > >> Bay. > >> > >> The former Red Sox outfielder, who was killed all winter for his > >> horrendous > >> defense (which was part of the justification for letting him sign a free > >> agent deal with the Mets) saw his UZR shift from minus-13.8 runs to > >> plus-1.9. Bay's play in 2009 obviously didn't change. Only the numbers > >> did. > >> And the new numbers say Bay was not horribly below average last year, > but > >> in > >> fact saved the Red Sox a couple of runs in left. > >> > >> It wouldn't have made a difference as far as the Red Sox re-signing Bay > - > >> we > >> now know that was an impossibility once their deal collapsed at the > >> All-Star > >> break over his medicals - but it would have at least changed the > >> narrative. > >> Maybe fans and media members wouldn't have been so quick to give up on > the > >> biggest bat in the lineup if they hadn't been able to lean on the "he > >> can't > >> play defense" crutch > >> > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > >> "Red Sox Citizens" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > >> For more options, visit this group at > >> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > >> > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > >> "Red Sox Citizens" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > >> For more options, visit this group at > >> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Author of "FPGA Simulation: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide" > > www.fpgasimulation.com > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > > > > > > -- > Author of "FPGA Simulation: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide" > www.fpgasimulation.com > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. 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